GUEST: Years ago, my
husband and I went to the
Museum of Fine Arts in
Boston for an exhibition,
and on the way home, we passed
this little antique shop, and
I wanted to stop. He didn't,
but we stopped-- I won.
(chuckling) Nothing of the, in
the shop was of value, but this
was hanging on the railing
outside. And I said to my
husband, "I absolutely love that
rug. I've got to find out
how much it is." So I went in
to see the gentleman, and he
said, "The rug's $100." And
I said, "Are you sure?" He
said, "Yes, it's a good rug." I
wanted the rug.
APPRAISER: Early 20th century,
there was a trend of collecting
Oriental rugs in the United
States. People collected
paintings, tapestries,
furniture, also
collected great rugs. And
as a result, other
people thought, "Hmm,
we have this tradition
of American hooked rugs.
We could use those designs
and create..." Basically, not
really reproductions, but our
own variations on what
Eastern rugs looked like.
GUEST: Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER: They were really
originally sold as kits. Circa
1920, you'd buy the burlap
backing and it would
have a pattern stenciled
on it, but then you'd
get your own wools and
you'd get your own fabrics, and
do the hooking yourself. And
so whoever did this went out
and very specifically
bought the proper yarns.
I think, just because
the color's so consistent
throughout, it's obviously not
scrap material that's been used.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: But you can see a
few a spots where they have
filled in. There's a deeper red
through here.
GUEST: I can see it, yeah.
APPRAISER: There's a purple,
and I originally thought, "Hmm,
some restoration." But when
you look at the back
of the rug and really
look at the consistency
of the yarn itself...
GUEST: They ran out
of this red, so they
transitioned to the other?
APPRAISER: Absolutely,
absolutely.
GUEST: Uh-huh.
APPRAISER: And that's a really
nice aspect of things, because
hooked rugs really come
out of a Folk Art tradition,
so it's nice to have those
kind of homey touches that are
coming into the rug itself.
This example's in extremely
good condition, with very, very
good color retention.
I think it would have a
retail price of $8,000.
GUEST: $8,000?
APPRAISER: $8,000.
GUEST: Oh, my goodness.
That... that is remarkable,
and certainly far beyond
what I've ever expected.
I have loved this for the
years that I've had it, and,
actually, I tried to give it
to one of my girls, and she
said no, and I bet she regrets
it right now! (laughing)